Aquarium week

The ocean offers such an amazing variety of cool and interesting animals to learn about. Our class did an exceptional job navigating the aquarium. We saw sharks, eels, tropical fish and jelly fish. We touched sea stars, sting rays, lemon sharks and hermit crabs. We watched divers and scientist feed harbor seals and clean penguin habitats. It was awesome. Thanks you to the amazing chaperones who did a great job keeping a close eye on our class. We were an organized well behaved bunch!!!

New England Aquarium January 2016

                                               

Chaperones please email me any pictures you have, I would love to share more photos. 

In class this week...

Reading Comprehension: 

• Using pictures to gain knowledge
• Author's purpose as it applies to non fiction
• determining main idea 

Phonics: 

• Reading short vowel words, focus on short i. (review short a)
• Writing upper case letters including: A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K

Sight Words: 

• I, can, go, to, the, a, be, she, you, my, we, up, in, and, so 

We will have a check in assessment at the end of next week. To inform both introduction and pace. 

Writing:

• Responding to nonfiction
• Determining importance from non fiction
• Writing a complete dictated sentences using a Capital letter to start and "mostly" lowercase thereafter. 

Math:

• Numbers and counting to 100 by 1's, 5's and 10's. 
• Subtraction
• Story problems containing both addition and subtraction

Reminders: 

Blue folders return daily!

The weekly homework is a resource, please ask your child to tap and build the short vowel words. They will increase in complexity as the year progresses. My goal is to solidify the medial and ending sounds in simple words. Please do not feel as if you need to return the paper the very next day. This should be a "make a word" game that you play repeatedly. The recording sheet is there to give your child practice connecting handwriting with phonics. 

Red sight word folders are to be returned weekly, Thursdays work best to keep a routine. We will ask your child to read and/spell the sight words. Please leave the envelope in your child's folder so that we can include new words. We will record your child's score on the envelope so that you are aware of how they are doing. If your child does not have at least 4 out of 5 we will not send new words. Most kids are on week three words. 

Guiding Questions:

Tell me about Sea Turtles.

Why do Sea Turtles lay their eggs at night? 

What does it mean to have an endoskeleton? 

What was your favorite exhibit at the aquarium? Why? 

What did you learn from Superfish? 

Who was your aquarium writing partner? 

How did you decide what to draw?

Tell me about subtraction? 

Tell me a subtraction story. 

Superfish presented by the Burlington Science Center

   

Superfish and all of it's features. 

                                                                                            

Mr. Musselman tell of the characteristics of mollusks

Watch us participate we have so much background knowledge

Desmond demonstrates the suction of seastar and octopus suckers. 

Real lobster claws!!! 

Do you know why the claws look different? Ask any kindergartner they can tell you. 

REAL OCTOPUS, STRAIGHT FROM THE MARKET

Guiding questions:

• How are vertebrates and I vertebrates different?Do fish have a backbone?
• Are horseshoe crabs dangerous?
• Name some different kinds of mollusk!
• What might we find at the aquarium's touch tank?
• Why do fish have gills?
• How are sharks different from other fish
• What are some similarities between an seastar and an octopus? 

Week 15 & 16

It was a great work filled two weeks in room 177.

We began a study of sea creatures, in preparation for our field trip to the New England Aquarium.

Thanks to all of our volunteers. Unfortunately we can only take four chaperones.
Thanks to Mrs. Currier, Mr. Cline, Ms. Spinale, and Mrs. Cassidy. Get your sneakers ready this is a busy trip. The chaperone fee, $4.80, is due as soon as possible.

Throughout this unit, we hope to gain knowledge of fish, sea mammals, penguins and the ocean environment. This theme affords us an opportunity to explore both fiction and non fiction texts.  Students are learning to extract facts from fiction. Although it is easier to talk about story elements, many children are motivated by real facts.

                                  

             

     

Centers are up and running with guided reading as our new focus. Student have been meeting with a teacher for leveled reading instruction three times per week. Student will continue to take home small guided reading books in his/her plastic book bag. These books must be returned to school the very next day. They are part of our core instruction. Many students, are reading at similar levels; therefore they are in high demand. If your child does not return a guided reading book to school they will not be allowed to take home a book that day. This home connection is important in building confidence, fluency and communicating progress to families. It is awesome to watch students progress through levels and practice "good reader reading strategies".
I would like to remind you that students not working with a teacher at guided reading must manage time and complete centers with less teacher support. Please help us by reinforcing when your child brings work home that displays his/her personal best. Compliment your child's good letter formation, illustrations, detailed answers on a reader's response or guided writing. Your kind words are really motivational.

Sight word Folders are in full swing. Some students returned red sight word folders early others spent time utilizing the resources provided. One student found over twenty words and glued them on the "I Spy" page. Please keep the envelope in your child's folder. We will add five new words each week. If your child is having difficulty keeping pace we will talk about reducing the number. Our first week is going well. If your child is proficiently reading and spelling these words please feel free to return them regularly. We will do our best to add new words. We will extend the word list into first grade words.  Thanks for your help.

Monday homework is designed to reinforce sound by sound spelling and short vowel sounds. Please dictate a few words and ask your child to build the words with the letter tiles. If your child would like to write the words on the page with the three boxes, please do so. Please see the homework help post to follow.

The "Good News" coupons are working well. Thanks for helping the kids pick simple show and share items.

Phonemic Awareness:
Listening for medial sounds.
Tapping CVC words

Phonics: 
Writing uppercase letters: A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H
Counting words in sentences

Sight words: 
I, the, is, go, can, to, an, you, a, be

Writing: 
Taking notes from text
Turning a bullet into a sentence
Using describing words

Science: 
Ocean life
Features of fish vs mammals  ( What are sharks?)
Vocabulary: appearance, prey, food source, predator, adaptations

Math:
Addition stories to ten
Writing number sentences
Using symbols, (+, =)

Guiding Questions:
Tell me about the character Big Al? Would you like to be friends with big Al? Why?
How are sharks different from other fish?
Why did Rainbow Fish share his scales?
Can you retell the story of Swimmy?
Tell me a story about adding or joining numbers?

Happy New Year

The first week of the new year has been outstanding. We transitioned back to school with ease. The kids were excited to share stories and were happy to see one and other. They came back focused and ready. Thank you!

The new year brings new routines. Last week we finished learning all of the lowercase letters, discussed spelling and set goals for reading. This week your child will begin learning and practicing sight words both in school and at home. Please remember to return your child's green Fundations' folder on Thursday. We will return it with Fundation's  Unit 2 Newsletter and resources for you to keep at home for the remainder of the year. Your new job is to support your child in the process of acquiring sight vocabulary. Each student will have a self paced folder that should be returned weekly, by Thursday. There will be a detailed note enclosed. Finally, as our class moves from focusing on phonological awareness and letter knowledge to phonics and reading your child will get weekly homework.

Last Week: 

In Reading and Comprehension: 
Students reviewed story elements and independently practiced retelling the story, The Mitten by Jan Brett.
We also compared two versions of the book. The differences were wonderfully articulated by students. Ask your child to retell the story including; character names, sequence, problem and outcome. You are sure to be impressed. Maybe you will come across another version of the story.

We also studied the features of Jan Brett's books. We discussed the ways authors engage readers and make their books unique.  Jan Brett books include; The Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Friends, The Mitten and The Hat. She has published many others.

In Phonemic Awareness: 
We are learning to "TAP" words sound by sound to hear each phoneme. Specifically, listening for final sounds.  We completed the second half of the phonological screener discussed at conferences. You will be notified this week if there are additional skills your child should focus on.

In Phonics:
We completed the alphabet. We learned the lowercase letters, sound and formation for all 26 letters. Children often mix up vowel sounds and visually similar letters. It doesn't hurt to keep the Fundations folder handy for review.

In Writing: 
Each child finished and published an opinion piece titled, "Which is the best Gingerbread story?
Next will be revisiting narrative. We will follow the classic writer's workshop model.  Students write a personal story including; a beginning, middle and end.

In Math: 
Unit 6 went quickly. Identifying numbers to 100 and counting by 10's. This was a very challenging unit for many students. Please keep practicing counting orally to 100 from any number. I am going to send a laminated 100's chart to use at home. Play games and ask your child to guess the number that comes before or after, ten more or ten less than a number on the chart. I am going to continue to reinforce teen numbers in class.
Our new objective is: telling addition stories and writing addition sentences.

Science: 
Categorizing the animals from The Mitten story.
Exploring non-fiction to learn animal facts.

Social Studies: 
Fair and unfair.
Understanding the that laws keep citizens safe.
Martin Luther King Jr.